Northeast Replica Challenge '99

Northeast Replica Challenge

Tuesday, August 17th: An early morning for us meant hearing those alarm clocks go off at 3:00am to meet at the shop by 4:00am. Last minute race prep on the cars and packing the trailers were complete before the sun had climbed up over the sand dunes behind our building.

In contrast to the terribly hot summer we'd been suffering through, the morning was cool and dry. It was a perfect New England early fall morning. We made it to New Hampshire International Raceway by 8:00 am, with the first order of business to unload the cars, break out the tools, and report to the driver's meeting. For this year's race we brought four team cars. The big block 460 carthat debuted at Run and Gun had been changed over to a pure street car. The black carbon fiber bodied X-Car was ready to rip

The line-up for an early morning go-around assembles.



Clockwise: Jesper Ingerslev in the FFR Twin Turbo, Jim Schenck and Mark Smith discus their first runs of the day, Nicole found her way into an FFR photo shoot with Kitcar Magazine.

with a new rear wheel/tire. The blue and white twin turbo car that had come within one point of winning the overall Top Dog award at the Run and Gun was ready to prove it's dominance on it's home turf. Engineer Jim Schenck had brought along his own car, a supercharged 302 car with the shocking blue/white paint job.

During pre-race prep, our first focus was the X-car, and it consumed most of the early morning. She is a special car, having been through a lot. If you remember this was the car that flipped at the '98 Run-n-Gun and then was repaired, and ended up winning the "King of the Hill" title. This morning the old girl had a runny nose (oil leak) that we had to track down and fix before the run groups started. FFR owner Mark Smith was finishing up his last attempt to secure the leak while engineer Jesper Ingerslev climbed into the twin

turbo and began his day by catching the last part of the third heat. Jesper came back into the pits several times during his first two runs puzzled that the car felt loose, "...it feels like I can't hook up, it's all over the place..." On his third return to the pits, he pulled his helmet off laughing when he realized he was running the turbos at almost 20 lbs of boost! Somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 rear wheel horsepower was a bit much for the 2,200 lb car. The turbos have an adjustable boost, but he had no idea how it had been set so high. After a slight modification to the boost knob, he was back on the track and happy with the car. FFR Engineer Jim Schenck spent a bit of the morning in class, since this was his first time to run on the NHIS track. By mid-day Jim joined Mark and Jesper on the track. Jim's car was running great and he reported that he was feeling comfortable with his lines despite the fact that the NHIS track is quite challenging. Bad news for Jim



		Jack Rosen and his Silver FFR came off the hill with raging speed, Joe Traut's Red-Hot Hardtop ran hot into every corner. Above, Bill Karns nearing the end of the straight away.

Jesper and Jim hard at work installing the new water pump.

though came shortly thereafter, as his water pump failed. He spent the better part of the day finding a new water pump and installing it. Luckily, it's not too difficult to find a water pump for a Ford Mustang 5.0.

Come noon, it was time for subs and sodas. Someone actually had to come inform us that we were missing lunch, we were so intent on seeing Jim make the afternoon practice runs. We even had some help from owner Rick Blackall and son Fred (FFR 1446K). Rick and Fred had joined us earlier out in Missouri at Run and Gun with their dark blue supercharged car. Once the water pump was repaired Jim refueled and made one of the last run groups of the day.

Mark Smith got out on the track and reported that the surface was clean and hot! Ideal for time trail format road racing.

By the end of the first day everyone reported that they had gotten plenty of track time and were looking forward to the time trails the next day. Everyone was stoked, there were smiles from the FFR crew and customers alike.

Wednesday, August 18: After a necessary nights sleep, we were ready to fly. Literally. The morning started off without a hitch. The cars ran strong and fast on the cool morning air, and only stuck better as the temperatures rose to a pleasant 85 degrees. Wednesday turned out to be a scorcher since there's not too much covered pit area at NHIS and the sun was shining all day. Jim Schenck was excited to finally be racing, and by noon, he had clocked over 45 minutes of track time. Jim's supercharger was no longer functional. Jim and Jesper decided to run the car with the stock motor. They teamed up to remove the



		Right to Left: The FFR 460 posed next to her Twin Turbo older Brother, Bill Karns in hot pursuit, John Bachhuber in the yellow 'Mz Bee's' inaugural track run.


This Viper rested silently in the 'Snake Pit' at the end of day one. Left, Jim Schenck and John Bachhuber relax between heats, while discussing John's 'Best of Show' winning FFR.

super-charger, and had the car back on the track and before 3:00pm, to beat the deadline set by time trials rules. It was all driver skill now that Jim was down 125 horsepower. In addition to the dozen or more FFR cars, there were some amazingly fast non-FFR entries. Last years champion, a little green turbo charged Lotus Super 7 replica was back again looking to win. This rotary powered rocket was the baseline against which, everyone compared their times. Other cars included the silent assassins; a pair of Dodge Vipers, and the race ready Chevrolet Corvettes, as well as several well modified imports. The imports consisted of an orange BMW, a full race prepared Mazda, a primer Grey VW (driven by COM President Joe Traut's younger brother), a non-FFR Daytona Coupe replica and even a new Shelby CSX4000 car. We made a last minute decision to side-line the X-Car, as the oil leak was slowed but not stopped and Mark felt that it would be wiser to take the more conservative

path and race it another day.

Jesper started the afternoon off for FFR with three hot laps that would latter prove untouchable, despite some tough opposition. Jesper drove the number # 50 car for the fastest lap of the day at a 1min.15.1sec. The next fastest lap was set by FFR's Mark Smith who accomplished a quick 1min. 16.7sec. lap time. Jim was the third and final FFR factory driver for the day. By the end of the second day, he had really conquered the course. He ran strong into his first two laps, and gave it his all on the final one. Jesper was using his stopwatch to time Jim, and it appeared that he was on pace for a mid 1:15 as well, but while exiting turn 8, his car spun out, eliminating him from the top spots. Third place in the Pro Class went to the Superformance team of

Gary Cheney's famous # 16 humbled under her canopy.



Left to right: BMW made its presence known with this orange sleeper. This blazing 7 replica kept everyone's attention focused until race time. Number 64 also defended its honor.

Olthoff Racing. Jim's car was not done however, with it's supercharger disengaged and street tires put on, Northeast FFROG Director Gary Cheney, drove for a first place in the Street Class. The event ended a great year of road racing for our team.

We are unbeaten nationally and now look forward to another long cold winter of R&D projects designed to keep us on top. Thanks to all the FFR customers who attended. In addition to whipping all comers on the track (that includes the fastest cars from ERA, Superformance and Contemporary), we should note here that FFR customer John Bachhuber earned first place in the Monday night Concourse Car Show. John's yellow and Black street ride was built from all new parts and was one of the finest versions of an FFR we've seen. Congrats to John for his craftsmanship and enthusiasm.

Also special thanks to Bill Karns for his ever present enthusiasm and good words. His black/blue street car was back again for it's second consecutive year.

Thanks also to the COM road race club for running a safe, professional and fun event. We'll be back again next year

Olthoff racing picking up their 3rd Place Pro Class finish.



		Counter Clockwise: John Bachhuber watches action packed turn 3 closely. Number 64 was joined by this nicely done 308. The new CSX4000 kit from Shelby American.

FFROG attending members included:

As you can see here, even the heavens shined upon FFR at NHIS.

Special Note*

The team at Factory Five Racing would like to thank all of the owners and customers who attended the event. Special note of thanks to COM director Joe Traut, for a fun, fast, and safe event.

Mark Smith (FFR Owner)

# 50 1998 'Run and Gun King of the Hill Champ'. Ran # 5 car for 2nd place Pro finish.

Jesper Ingerslev (FFR Engineer)

# 5 Twin-Turbo car. 1st Place Pro finish.

Jim Schenck (FFR Engineer)

# 51 Diagonally stripped Blue and White supercharged 'Wild Child.'

Gary Cheney (FFROG Director)

# 16 Viper Blue/White Stripped 'XCELR8' Ran # 51 car for 1st place Street finish.

Rock Bisson (FFROG Co-Director)

# 7 Tangerine/Black

John Bachhuber

# 52 Yellow and Black "Ms BEE."

Jack Rosen

# 30 Silver / Raspberry

Beloved FFR owner, but I did not get his name. Please step forward and correct me.

# 55 Blue / Silver